Hello. My name is Traci House and I am the Director of Technology at Joplin Schools. Before my 18-year tenure with Joplin Schools, I served 10 years as an IBM K-12 Education Specialist. Recently I have had the privilege of contributing to the following articles: How A Tornado Inspired Innovation In Joplin, MO Schools Joplin Takes Digital Approach to Rebuilding Education Joplin, Missouri, One Year Later Emergency notification systems add features to better spread the message. How Laptops Helped Save Joplin High School Though I have shared our Joplin Schools story on numerous occasions about vast devastation and a remarkable rebuild effort, it is especially poignant to be giving this presentation in a city that was dealt a similar devastating blow in 2005. Comparisons between Hurricane Katrina and the EF5 tornado that ripped through Joplin, Missouri on May 22, 2011 are inevitable, as recovery efforts will continue in New Orleans and Joplin for years to come.

The following is a guest post from Mark Radcliffe, Director of Learning Management Technologies at blendedschools.net Mark Radcliffe is the Director of Learning Management Technologies for the not-for-profit company blendedschools.net. Mark has worked in various K-20 education positions for the last 10 years including working directly with students and teachers on technology integration projects. At blendedschools.net Mark manages the instructional technology program, communicates directly with Blackboard on a daily basis and handles many aspects of the company’s professional development program. Mark is currently located in Norfolk, Virginia, USA but is originally from Manchester UK. He enjoys the city and loves music and the visual arts. Get an insider’s look…. This year at BbWorld I’ll be presenting “Wimba Classroom to Blackboard Collaborate – Make the Switch,” which is probably one of my simpler session titles in a while. I usually try and cram as many buzz words into my titles as possible. My hope is that it will attract people who look for buzz words and also attract people that get the irony of session titles with buzz words. In the end I went with a simple title this year because I wanted to illustrate that the process of switching from Wimba to Collaborate should not be complicated.

We’re thrilled to reveal that Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, President of UMBC, will deliver the BbWorld 2012 opening keynote on Tuesday, July 10. In 2008, Freeman was named one of America’s Best Leaders by U.S. News & World Report, which in 2009, 2010, and 2011 ranked UMBC the #1 “Up and Coming” university in the nation.  In 2011, U.S. News also ranked UMBC 4th nationally for “Best Undergraduate Teaching” – tied with Yale.  In 2009, TIME magazine named him one of America’s 10 Best College Presidents. This past year, he received both the TIAA-CREF Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for Leadership Excellence and the Carnegie Corporation of New York’s Academic Leadership Award, recognized by many as the nation’s highest awards among higher education leaders.  Also in 2011, he was named one of seven Top American Leaders by The Washington Post and the Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership. … yeah. We’re blown away by him too! Not familiar with Freeman’s work? don’t worry! You will be an expert by July with all the exclusive updates we have to share with you. Stay tuned! For all our opening keynote contest participants, if you guessed Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, you’re ONE Step closer to joining us at BbWorld 2012 for FREE! Our officials are in the process of collecting all eligible posts and we will be revealing the lucky winner this Wednesday, March 14th at NOON sharp!